Sunday, February 5, 2012

I've been using my Samsung Nexus-S for approximately 1 year now and here is my thoughts on it. When I purchased it, I had used a Sony Ericsson x10 mini so I was familiar with the Android OS and interface. At the time that I'm writing this review, my Nexus-S is running Android version 2.3.6.

The first thing that I like about the Samsung Nexus-S is that it is factory unlocked regardless of which carrier it is purchased from. That means as long as the carrier supports the band for the particular version of the Nexus-S, you can insert the SIM card into it and it will work.

In Canada, there are basically 2 versions of the Nexus-S so you have to be careful when purchasing one. If you purchase one from Fido (like I did), it will fully work with Rogers, Bell, Telus, Koodo and any of the MVNOs that use their networks (such as Petro Canada Mobility which uses the Rogers network). If you purchase one from Videotron or Wind, it will work with Fido, Rogers, Bell, Telus, and Koodo BUT the data will max out at EDGE speeds since this model doesn't support the 3G network that Rogers, Bell, Telus, & Koodo use. That being the case, if you purchase one from Rogers, Bell, Telus, Koodo, or Fido, it will NOT WORK on Videotron or Wind at all except in roaming mode because Videotron and Wind don't have a 2G network to fall back on.

I find the Samsung Nexus-S to be very responsive. During the 1 year that I've been using it, it has never rebooted on me. I rooted it initially but then after accepting an update, it obviously returned to the unrooted state and because I was only using 1 program that required root, I never bothered to root it again.

I find that the back facing camera takes pretty good pictures (better than my Blackberry Bold 9700 which I use primarily as a data device). It connects to my wireless routers without any issues. If you like Android, chances are, you will like this phone. I've never used my front facing camera so I can't really comment on it.

The only negative comment that I have about this phone is that the earphone jack is on the bottom of the phone. I guess that it could be worse... it could have been on the side of the phone (like it is on my Blackberry Bold 9700). The good thing about it being on the bottom of the phone is that when I place it in my pocket, the bottom of the phone is at the top and when I remove the phone from my pocket to make/receive a call, it is at the correct orientation to do so. With my iPhone 3GS, when I remove it from my pocket, after listening to music, I have to flip the phone somewhat. I guess this is why Samsung decided to have the earphone jack on the bottom of their phones including the Nexus-S. For me, I have a belt case for my phones and I just like the earphone jack to be on the top of my devices. For people who put their phones in their pockets, I think that that earphone jack on the bottom works out better for them.

All the programs that I've tried on my Nexus-S work properly and without any problems. The 2 programs that I use the most on it is "Netflix" and "SlingPlayer Mobile". Both work seamlessly on it. I've also used "Beautiful Widgets" and this also works very well on it as does "Angry Birds".

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section.